1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to rotary compressor assemblies and, more particularly, to a rotary compressor assembly of the type including a supporting plate for supporting a rotary compressor on which an accumulator is mounted.
2) Description of Related Art
Generally speaking, a rotary compressor assembly is used to compress a refrigerant to high temperature and high pressure and to discharge the same, in a cooling cycle of an air conditioner, or the like, in which compression, condensation, expansion and evaporation stages are carried out.
A conventional rotary compressor assembly includes an airtight container including a driving motor and a compressing device or compressor therein, and an accumulator for supplying an evaporated refrigerant to the airtight container. The accumulator is contained in a cylindrical casing and communicates with the airtight container through a refrigerant pipe or conduit. A holder or bracket is used to mount the accumulator vertically on an outer wall of the airtight container, eccentrically with respect to axis of the container.
In order to fixedly mount the rotary compressor including the accumulator, a supporting plate is fixed to the underside of the airtight container by welding. More specifically, the rotary compressor is welded onto a center portion of the supporting plate, and supporting holes, into which rubber vibration isolating elements or dampening members are inserted, are formed at angular points of the supporting plate. Each isolating member has a through-hole extending along the central axis thereof, through which a bolt penetrates. With this arrangement, with the isolating elements inserted into the respective supporting holes of the supporting plate and the bolts fastened to a base plate, or other installation surface, of an air conditioner, or the like, through the vibration isolating members, the rotary compressor is fixed in place on, while being vibration isolated against from, the base plate.
A disadvantage of the above-described conventional rotary compressor assembly is that substantial vibration and noise occur during the operation of the driving motor and the compressing device in the airtight container and such vibration is directly transmitted to the base plate. This has a deleterious affect on other parts, significantly shortening the life of these parts. In addition, although the rubber vibration isolating elements are mounted at angular points of the supporting plate, because the rotary compressor is disposed on the supporting plate without regard to the weight of the accumulator attached eccentrically to the rotary compressor, the load is unevenly applied to the respective vibration isolating members. This limits the vibration and noise suppression provided.
The present invention is concerned with solving the problems discussed above and, to this end, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rotary compressor assembly in which the center of gravity of a rotary compressor, including an accumulator, is correspondingly disposed at the geometric center of a supporting plate for the compressor and accumulator so as to effectively reduce the vibration and noise occurring during the operation of the rotary compressor.
To achieve the above object, a rotary compressor assembly is provided which includes a rotary compressor, an accumulator mounted on an outer wall surface of the rotary compressor, a supporting plate on which the rotary compressor is fixedly mounted, a plurality of supporting holes which are formed on edge portions of the supporting plate, and a plurality of vibration isolating or dampening members received in the supporting holes so as to support the supporting plate in spaced relation to an installation surface, the center of gravity of the rotary compressor including the accumulator being located on the supporting plate in a predetermined relation to the geometric center of the supporting holes such that a uniform load is exerted on each of the vibration isolating members.
Preferably, the center of gravity of the rotary compressor including the accumulator and the geometric center of the supporting holes are disposed so as to coincide with each other on the supporting plate.
Advantageously, the supporting plate has a polygonal shape, and the supporting holes are formed in the vicinity of the respective apexes of the supporting plate. Preferably, the supporting plate has a triangular shape.
In an advantageous implementation, the accumulator is located on a line which connects the center of gravity of the rotary compressor including the accumulator to the apex of the supporting plate.
Further features and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in, or apparent from, the detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof which follows.